I say rare, as the Carrera 3.0 is an uncommon beast. Manufactured between 1976 & 1977, Porsche only built 3,687 in total compared to nearly 58,000 of the SC that followed it, and over 76,000 of the Carrera 3.2 that followed again. The Carrera 3.0 followed directly after the 2.7 Carrera & 2.7RS (these now command mega money), and its engine was a direct development of the Carrera 3.0RS lump, endowing it with 200bhp, 188lb/ft and performance slightly in excess of the 2.7RS despite the extra weight it carried (still less than 1,100kg). Alot of that performance stemmed directly from the additional swept capacity and subsequent torque. They were listed as reaching 60 in 6.3 in the day, and apparently beat the contempory Turbo to that benchmark in tests.
This particular example is standard, well maintained and in fine form, so it was great to take it on a gentle local loop that provides some lumpy tarmac to get a feel for how it drove in comparison to mine. Mine is a Carrera 3.0 chassis, but is so far gone from standard it shall/can never return. It's custodian had said after driving mine that his was a weekend car and mine a race car so I was keen to see what he meant, particularly as most of my 911 comparisons to date have been 964s that I was also considering.
The same, but different, is the succinct answer. He had it right. Chassis-wise it's a softer edged car - smaller wheels & plumper tyres, mixed with less unsprung weight, gives it a nicer, gentler feel down the road than mine - less tendency to tramline, the steering is lighter, less hyper, less weighting fluctuations as lock goes on and off. My front end is dominated by its ride height and subsequent negative camber (-2deg) and its steering requires a much firmer hand. Mine has a firmer hand on its springing too, and feels dialled in where the stock is not unconnected but softer. It's hard to say which is right or wrong - the refinement and easy flow of the stock car is very impressive - in that regard it trounces mine and makes mine feel older. But then in its grip, handling and comfort in carrying some speed (with due deference to it being rare, original, in good nick and worth north of stg£20-25k so I didn't push on too much), my example makes it feel old.
Same on the braking front, although I reckon that is an easy fix on the older car. My pedal bites higher, is firmer, and gives more confidence. As we have similar discs & calipers the difference is a recent bleed, Dot5.1 & braided lines I reckon. As it was, the spongy response and low bite made tidy footwork difficult.
And you needed tidy footwork, as the box is everything people hate in 915 boxes - vague and reluctant to engage, although no graunch like mine did sometimes originally. The Carrera 3.0 will be getting the oil swap & additive mine got very soon, as it transformed mine. Mine is the older 'box too, without the 'Omega' spring and linkages, so that was very informative to compare the two and find mine currently ahead.
The final interesting comparison was the engine. I outlined the characteristics of this 3.0 lump compared to its predecessors. My engine shares the top end so CIS injection etc. Where mine is different is the 3.2 bottom end (and whatever is hidden in there). The difference is marked. Mine hauls in a way completely foreign to the Carrera 3.0. The 3.0 ramps up past 4k quite nicely and sounds well, but out of a bend from as low as 2,000rpm my hybrid lump is streets ahead and its throttle response much better (I think some work needs doing to the 3.0s linkage too). I was quite pleased with that. the lower final drive/ratios of my car undoubtably help in this too. And put all together, the cruiser vs racer is a fair comment.
So, another day, another bit of 911 learning!
A Cool Car, and a privilege to be allowed drive it.
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